Sketch of a Monster
by DarkIthil
Summary: Unexpectedly and accidently, Lina Inverse findns out an astonishing secret about Xelloss, and being the redhead demon she is, she decides to help. Warning: will be slash, X/Z. Chapters will be from different POVs.
1. Chapter 1: Unbelievable

**Summary:** unexpectedly and accidently, Lina Inverse finds out an astonishing secret about Xelloss, and being the redhead demon she is, she decides to help. Warning: will be slash. Unfinished. All the chapters will be from different POVs.

The beautiful autumn, golden leaves rustling underfoot, it brought the author into a state of romantic dreaming, so **WARNING:** this story contains some ideas more romantic in nature than original anime or manga could have. Or maybe not, who knows why and what for had L-sama created mazoku. Also will be slash (yaoi, shonen-ai). Not β-d, so the text has grammar mistakes, I'm so sorry!

**Setting:** somewhere after "Try", disregarding "Revolution" and "Evolution-R", so a bit AU-ish. All the characters are a little older, more mature.

**Pairing:** hinted at, one-sided (for now) Xelloss/Zelgadiss

**Disclaimer:** I own naught.

**A****bout this chapter:** written in 3rd person from Lina's point of view, text in italic represents her thoughts. There's a flashback in the middle.

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**- Sketch of a Monster -**

**Chapter O****ne. Unbelievable**

_Damn it all, pull yourself together, Lina Inverse! There must be a way out of here._ "Down this passage!" the redhead yelled, while running and turning left in a narrow dark corridor.

Unfortunately she was followed not only by her friends but also by the bastards pursuing them. Even more unfortunate was the fact the aforementioned bastards were so annoyingly strong.

Usually the infamous sorceress wasn't a person to easily regret something – her life was so full of events and fights that there just was no time to figure out what particular decision led to the particular tight spot she was in. But right now Lina was beginning to regret their idea to come to this place.

Gritting her teeth, the redhead paused to send a "Flare arrow!" but, as expected, the spell was absorbed by a strange light shield appearing around their enemy, causing their persecutors no harm.

_Damn it!_ All their attacks were useless. And the knowledge how to cast such magical barrier probably was in an ancient manuscript hidden in this castle, the manuscript that was the very reason they came here in the first place. And now, Lina thought gloomily, the dwellers of the castle were after them, though it was a predictable reaction. _Unlike their frigging invulnerability!_

"Lina-san," was Amelia's high with alarm voice, "what if there's a dead end..."

"If there's a dead end," the redhead interrupted, "I'll just make us an exit."

Yet they were able to get out of the corridor, ending up in a large bright lit hall with numerous guards already awaiting them.

_Just great, now we are surrounded!_

The soldiers stepped aside, letting an elderly looking man, probably their Leader, face the intruders.

He was just about to say something, when was interrupted by the princess of Seyruun:

"Step aside you people!" she pointed a finger. "How dare you stand in the way of Justice?"

"Maa, Amelia-san, but it was _you_ who invaded the castle," – Xelloss, appearing in thin air.

Zelgadiss, quite predictably, cursed darkly, so delighted to see their monstrous priest. And Lina was and wasn't expecting him to show up, after all they were after a magical manuscript, yet it wasn't rumored to be even closely as powerful as the Clair Bible. All they knew, it could have information on some sort of weapon – an enchanted sword, or a golem.

Oh well, maybe Xelloss would help them, if he suddenly wouldn't decide to be their enemy.

Her attention switched to the Leader.

"You enter my castle like thieves," the man said. "You will be treated like ones. Kill them!"

_Should we retreat?_ was flickering in Lina's mind while she dodged attacks. The guards were surrounded by that strange barriers, her spells were useless. _Could we retreat even if we tried to?_

Such frantic thoughts were interrupted by tired of only defensive moves Gourry. With the sword tightly gripped in both hands, he charged right at the Leader.

Yet the man was surrounded by a semitransparent wall of light, which bounced off the attack as well as the swordsman. Gourry, falling beck, was quickly caught by Zelgadiss and Amelia briefly checked if he was unharmed.

"That's enough," the Leader commanded. "All men retreat! I'll put an end to this myself."

He held up a hand and chanted – almost sang – words of a spell. A wall of light, too bright to see through, encircled him and for a moment all went still, but then the wall expanded. Lina remembered to quickly cast a shield and then the light engulfed them.

She couldn't breathe and could see nothing but light. And it was painful, so painful that her legs started to give out and she sled to her knees. Slowly the ringing in her ears stopped and the vision cleared. But, _What the hell?_ – she couldn't move!

"Resisting is useless," was oh so helpful remark of the smart-ass Leader.

The redhead glanced around – wonderful, they were all trapped!

It appeared the spelled barrier stopped moving, solidified and immobilized every one of them. Even Xelloss was motionless, and the light of the spell surrounding him was different.

The Leader panted and laughed, "The victory is mine. You cannot move."

He took several long breaths and looked closely at them, his gaze stopped on Xelloss.

"And it appears one of you is a monster. But you too can do nothing against my spell," – the expression on his face was far too smug for Lina's liking. – "You see, the spell, it works with powers that access your very nature, so even a mazoku would be vanquished by it."

The motionless priest's expression suddenly changed from annoyed to surprised, his eyes widening.

"You see, don't you?" the Leader asked gleefully. "You are blocked from going back to the Astral Plane. You. Are. Trapped."

_Why, that bastard will__ sure as hell get his ass Dragon Slaved_, "Just let me out!" the redhead demanded. The man just scrutinized her.

"Lina Inverse, the infamous bandit killer, you have the gall to go after my possessions. You will pay! It would be only Just." he held up his hand towards Gourry, Amelia and Zelgadiss, trapped together in the barrier.

_Dammit, no, stop!_ Lina tried to struggle against the hold, but all in vain.

"No," she cried. "Stop!"

"Silence!" the Leader barked. "Your punishment – you will watch your friends' death before you join them."

His fingers flexed in a grip that made the spell around the three people trapped in it tighten. Amelia whimpered.

Lina, now in almost panicked state, her mind screaming _No! It cannot end like this!_ But her body wasn't responding. She heard Gourry gasp and Zelgadiss snarl. _Stop it!_

And then the glow surrounding Xelloss flickered once, twice and was gone, freeing the mazoku who immediately appeared right before the Leader, inhuman eyes blazing, and struck.

Too relieved to see her friends were alright, Lina haven't noticed her own bonds were gone.

The Leader, now on his knees, clutching to his side, whispered to the priest, "But how could you get free? I'm certain the spell must work against your monster nature."

Xelloss smiled cheerfully at him, "Oh, it did work, but" – he opened his eyes – "you know nothing of monsters."

Lina, still listening intently, gasped – the words! _You know nothing of monsters_ – ringing in her mind, they triggered a memory of days long since past.

_"You kno__w nothing of monsters, you punk!" an old man cries, shaking a fist._

A battle cry drew her scattered attention to the present, and the redhead quickly switched her mood from dazed to the polar opposite – she was pissed like all the monsters on the Astral Plane, now even more so than before someone threatened her friends. They. Would. Pay.

"I'll get read of you all!" And it seemed the shield spell was not protecting their enemy now. Good! "Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows..."

One Dragon Slave later a group of four people and a monster were standing all alone in the bottom of a little crater.

"And now, that manuscript..." Zelgadiss abruptly trailed off.

The sorceress turned her attention to the scene: Xelloss, standing still, the manuscript in his hands, was silently facing the chimera.

"I'm sorry, Zelgadiss-san, but this must be destroyed."

Zelgadiss glared at the mazoku for a long moment saying nothing, then gritted teeth closing his eyes. He turned around, stalking away, "Whatever..."

The priest watched him go, the manuscript still unharmed in his hands, "But they have no information about your cure."

No reaction. Lina could understand this bitter feeling of helplessness, especially right after she nearly watched her friends die. But now the redhead was just so glad they were all alive and unharmed, besides there was one more thing she needed to confirm later.

She decided to interject: "Yeah, Zel! They are probably just about the barrier spell."

Strangely quietly Xelloss added, "You know I can't disobey my orders."

This provoked a reaction out of the chimera. He turned and snapped,

"Just don't pretend to be apologetic!" then went away, followed by troubled looking Amelia and Gourry.

Lina approached the mazoku, who was silently staring at the papers in his hands.

"Tough luck, Xelloss," she slapped the priest on the back. "But it _is_ mostly your own fault, had you acted more nicely before..."

The monster regarded her with a smile, "What do you mean, Lina-san?"

The sorceress smirked, "Oh, the ability within your nature to break a barrier against your nature? What could it be, I wonder? Perhaps in order to protect someone?" – her smirk turned into a gentle smile. – "I know a lot about monsters."

Xelloss looked alarmed, and the redhead tried to reassure him, "Don't worry, I won't tell your secret."

The mazoku, still looking worried but now slightly pained, warned: "If you do, it would be very dangerous for everyone in your group, but mostly for..."

The sorceress solemnly nodded, "I won't allow my friends to get harmed."

She looked gently at him, "But you surprised me, Xelloss. I haven't expected something like _this_ from you."

Xelloss incinerated the papers, his head turned down, face hidden by hair: "Me neither."

Giving her a nod of goodbye the mazoku disappeared.

Lina stayed there for a long while, staring at the ashes of the ancient manuscript, not seeing them. She remembered an old man, who, having been thought of as a crazy and avoided by local folks, told remarkable and unbelievable stories about monsters. At that time Lina dismissed them as nonsense, but as years passed by and she got more acquainted whith mazoku than she really wanted to, one by one the stories told by the insane geezer turned out to be true.

And now this one as well, the sorceress chuckled as a memory of a senile high voice replayed inside her mind.

_____- . - . -__ . - _  


A grey-haired man, having not lost his posture even in old age, was slowly pacing in a dark lit kitchen.

Younger Lina was sitting at the table, surprisingly patient in her wait for the meal, and listening what the geezer was telling. She had come to this outcast hut in search of some books of spells, but had also found a lonely almost blind by now man. Being shunned by inhabitants of near villages, he was starving for some company just as much as Lina was starving for food and knowledge.

"The dark magic spells you learn, miss," he croaked, "you should also learn about the very sources of power they use."

And he told her a lot, some of the stories about the Dark Lord Shabranigdu, some about monsters, most of his tales were hard, no, nearly impossible to believe in, but still Lina was captivated.

One of them was even more incredible than the rest.

"It's true, you know, I saw it with my very eyes," his voice rang.

"But you're almost blind, old man," the girl muttered. And yet the fact, the very idea he was trying to perorate – about a monster who fell in love! It was just absurd, impossible! Monsters did not feel, could not feel such emotions as love!

"It's against their nature," she said.

"Silence! You know nothing of monsters, you punk," he shook a fist.

"They were created by L-sama, just as dragons and humans where. And every race can love, mazoku are just less easy to feel like that about everyone. No, they can love one, someone, and that someone is very special to a monster."

"But mazoku feed off negative emotions, they like when people around them are unhappy!" Lina protested. "Even if a monster can love, it would still try to make even the one it loves unhappy."

The old man shook his head, "No, child, you don't understand one thing. What is the point of love, if we don't want to see our loved ones happy? No, even the monsters are just like every other beings."

He sat down heavily and continued, "It is true the mazoku feed from negative emotions, but only that special someone, they are not the source of power, they are the loved one! The rules are different for them, reversed. A monster doesn't feel good if the loved one is unhappy, on the contrary." He smiled, "You see, love is like that – strange. It both captures and frees a monster, giving him more power to protect that someone."

The man sighed, "And I knew a girl, a sorceress, who was loved by a mazoku."

Lina shook her head, the idea just couldn't fit in, it was too altering and world-shaking. She wasn't even paying attention to the man, who kept on with the story.

_Just no way!_

_____- . - . -__ . - _  


"Hey, Lina, are you going? I'm hungry!" Gourry's voice snapped the redhead out of her reminiscence.

"Of course!" she ran after her friends out of the ruins of the castle.

Looking at her most important people, the sorceress thought this new information was dangerous. It was a perfect blackmail material, a weak spot of the priest. If his enemies found out... They all would be in big trouble.

And yet, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the mazoku – to be hated so much by the one you love. Ironic. Maybe she would help him somehow, at least with the hating with passion part.

But still, Lina chuckled.

Xelloss is in love. Unbelievable!

_- TBC __-_

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**AN: **the author hopes all the characters were not OOC. Maybe Lina was behaving a little un-Lina-like, but she was surprised (and a bit grown up) in here. Hope you enjoyed.

Next chapter will probably be from our dear chimera's point of view.


	2. Chapter 2: Unexpected

**- Sketch of a Monster -**

**Chapter Two****. Unexpected**

On nights like this Zelgadiss sometimes wondered why he really bothered with his search? The place they decided to camp for the night was far away from any villages or towns, the area was dangerous enough to scare any travelers, so alone in the company of his friends it was easy to forget how other people looked at him, what a reaction they would have gotten, had they decided to stay in a hotel. Now it was just them, a merry chatter, or as merry as it could be with all the fighting over food, the nature and the stars, so bright and sparkling.

The chimera wasn't feeling too eager to start anew, with the last attempt to find the cure still painfully clear in his mind. It was not a failure, it was a barely avoided catastrophe. And to think that now he somewhat owned his life to Xelloss!

So maybe, instead of venturing into another adventure right after they managed to get out of the previous, he should enjoy little piece and quiet while it lasted?

Zelgadiss stretched out on the grass not far from the camp. Stars were indeed so beautiful like this. Peaceful.

However, something was not quite right. Altered by his demon third part or not, but his senses where picking up, reacting, the chimera just couldn't figure out to what.

It started after that manuscript fiasco.

Amelia was very worried, but it wasn't strange. The princess, her eyes big and watery, had tried to reassure him they would definitely find the cure somewhere else. Ah, sweet Amelia, deep inside he really appreciated her concern, right until the moment she started one of her Justice-and-Love speeches.

So, no, Amelia wasn't the reason of his current concern.

Neither was Gourry, if he ever could be. Not unless he was manipulated by a monster that is.

That ruled out everyone but Lina and Xelloss. Zelgadiss thought about the redhead's behavior.

Recently Lina was acting somewhat odd. The chimera couldn't place one word to describe the changes. Most of the time she was the usual Lina, but sometimes, when she smiled at Gourry or at anyone else, she seemed... nicer? No, that would be too strange. Maybe at peace or relieved?

Whatever it was, Zelgadiss could have accounted it for their near death experience. But then again, the sorceress didn't start hitting Gourry less when he nearly died by the hands of Hellmaster Fibrizo.

Maybe it just kicked in that they were not invulnerable? Neah, he dismissed that idea as well.

There was also one more thing about the redhead. Sometimes Zelgadiss caught her looking at him with what could only be described as sly amusement.

_What was going on?_ Had such behavior come from Xelloss, he would be fearing for their lives, as well as the fate of the world in general.

Speaking of whom, the priest, still hanging around them for whatever reasons he had, was acting quietly, not adding any taunting remarks, not teasing and it was, dear he even think, almost bearable to be in the mazoku's presence. It was in itself probably a bad omen, far worse than Lina's sudden odds.

But what could it mean?

_____- . - . -__ . - _  


It was just another pleasant supper by the campfire.

Having observed both the redhead and the priest, trying to find the reasons behind their strange behavior but coming up with none, Zelgadiss decided to drop the issue. One thing history clearly taught him – if something was inevitable, especially if it was bad, it would happen no matter what was done to avoid it.

Somehow one topic led to the other, and without clearly remembering how, they were engaged in a discussion about the dragons. With Xelloss present, the conversation verged into touchy-downright-humiliating-and-rude parts of shinzoku history.

When Lina, innocently picking at the remains of her meal, asked:

"I was thinking, the dragons, they could dislike and fear, nearly hate the ancient dragons, and monsters. So, does it mean that mazoku can feel not just hate or dislike, but some positive emotions as well?"

All eyes immediately turned to Xelloss. The priest was staring at the sorceress with an unreadable yet intense expression. Was it just Zelgadiss's imagination, or did the mazoku glare at the redhead?

Finally he sighed and replied, "You are right, Lina-san. Positive emotions are possible for mazoku, they, that is, we are just less likely to feel them."

Amelia squeaked, and Lina, smiling wickedly, continued with questioning, "Yeah, what kind of emotions?"

That time, Zelgadiss was sure, Xelloss really glared at her, yet answered, shrugging his shoulders, "Any kind. All races created by The Golden Lord can feel all the emotional range."

The sorceress's grin got wider, but she was interrupted.

"Ah, Xelloss-san!" Amelia screamed. "So it means your heart is not completely black yet! There is still hope for you to turn back to Light."

The chimera sighed, impassively looking at the sweat-dropping mazoku. Amelia and one of her speeches, as if repeating a love-filled slogan could change a monster.

And then Gourry caught them all off guard:

"So, Xelloss, does it mean we are your friends?"

They looked in astonishment at the swordsman, then inquiringly at the priest.

"Is it true, Xelloss-san?" the princess couldn't contain her happy wonder. "Do you really like us?"

The mazoku blinked a couple of times, then smiled his usual smile, "Why, I do believe, yes, I've got quite fond of you guys."

Lina's and Gourry's reaction to this confession was a warming look, Amelia even jumped several times in joy, but Zelgadiss just snorted:

"Yeah, right," like he could ever believe that. "You mean you've got quite fond of using us whenever necessary."

The chimera stood up, too disgusted and bitter.

"But, Zelgadiss-san..." the priest tried to argue.

"Don't even try it, Xelloss. You are a monster, we were and still are pawns to you. And now excuse me," he stalked away.

Everyone around the fire watched him go in silence.

_____- . - . -__ . - _  


Quite far away from the camp Zelgadiss let his temper free. He briefly contemplated kicking a rock, but thought better of it – after all the material hardness was the same, he could hurt himself instead. Such restraint was proof of how better he had become in dealing with anger.

The chimera sighed. It wasn't just anger he was trying to deal with, he also tasted bitter, upset and maybe even betrayed. Betrayed by his friends who allowed to even consider the possibility. Being friends with a mazoku... Not likely.

And yet, his treacherous mind supplied, it could be so good: all the facts, the incredible stories Xelloss could share if he really wanted to.

Zelgadiss sighed once more. It was probably his fate to be ignored and disregarded by the ones stronger than he.

Suddenly, Xelloss appeared nearby.

"That was mean, Zelgadiss-san."

"Go away," the chimera said tiredly. "I don't see how it is _mean_ to act like that towards someone who regards you as a pawn and feeds off your pain."

"I admit I sometimes used you, but you shouldn't blame me, I had orders and your group was so conveniently strong... But, Zelgadiss-san," the priest looked at him seriously, "there are a lot of people in this world to feed from. I can afford letting your small group of four people feel not unhappy."

"Why?"

A shrug, "You are interesting, every one of you. I wasn't lying when I said I got quite fond of you, I enjoy your company."

Silence fell around them. Zelgadiss contemplated the things said, still looking distrustfully at Xelloss.

The priest's face lit up, "I have an idea, and it might just as well prove my words. I was quite busy before, with the orders and official stuff, but right now I'm free. How about I help you with your cure?"

WHAT? Zelgadiss gaped, then recovered enough to ask a stunned:

"Why would you do that?"

The mazoku patiently explained, "Your unhappiness was never my intention. And, as I said, I'm quite free right now."

"Right, first you prevent me from finding it, and now you want to help me?"

And it still tasted so bitter to remember all that failures.

Xelloss sighed, "The manuscript and the copy of the Clair Bible had no information on your cure. I don't lie, Zelgadiss-san."

"No, you don't lie, you manipulate the truth," he eyed the monster with suspicion, anger slowly boiling up, how dare that monster mess with him? And in such a painful way!

The priest seemed to start running out of patience, "Don't you trust me at all?"

Zelgadiss snorted bitterly, "I do trust you. I trust you to be a mazoku and to have an ulterior motive behind everything you do."

"Maa, I'm not that bad. Besides, what could I gain from offering you my help?"

The chimera thought about it. Really, despite his pride telling otherwise, what would someone as powerful as Xelloss accomplish by helping him? His trust? Did it cost that much? His better opinion of the mazoku? Once again, not that much of a gain. So maybe, dare he think it, the priest so unexpectedly was offering friendship? Unlikely, very unlikely. And he would surely regret this decision later, but the temptation was oh so great, so maybe he could go with the flow, just for now, this once?

"All right. For now I'll trust you to help me with finding my cure."

Xelloss smiled, "Wonderful!"

They headed back to the camp.

The monster suddenly asked, "I was wondering, why you need the cure anyway, Zelgadiss-san?"

He considered not answering, but, honestly, why the hell not?

"I'm just tired of hiding." At the mazoku's uncomprehending expression he elaborated, "It is difficult to be feared and avoided every time you're in a crowded place."

The priest was silent for the rest of the way.

___- . - . -__ . - _

Despite his suspicion and worst prognosis, the next couple of weeks were quite anticlimactic. Zelgadiss had enough time to chew on the idea Xelloss had cooked up, and came to the conclusion that by trusting the mazoku he wasn't loosing much. Except maybe his life, but the monster could take it anyway, and without putting much effort either. Zelgadiss wasn't Lina Inverse, so by manipulating him the monster wouldn't get any disastrous results for the planet, so hopefully right now he wasn't gambling with anyone else's life.

And if, if by any chance, Xelloss was telling the truth and was going to help him get cured, well, wonderful! Unbelievable, but really-really wonderful. But it still didn't answer the question why would the priest suddenly decide to help him? He laughed a little – maybe all the Justice speeches did have an impact?

The next time the chimera saw the mazoku was after the group had split up, everyone on their way to solve their own problems.

The priest popped up one evening right in the hotel room Zelgadiss managed to get.

Without further ado the mazoku, a book in hand, started:

"I've found an historical record that would most certainly be of great interest to you, Zelgadiss-san."

He handed over the book. The chimera blinked a few times at the unusual sight of the monster giving something rather than taking it, but quickly shook of his stupor, grabbed the book and started flipping eagerly through pages, reading. Yes, most interesting indeed.

Xelloss proceeded explaining, "It says that there is a way to extract a golem part out of a living being."

The book did say so. According to this record somewhere in the Valley of Rotting Bones there were the remains of a civilization, and its citizens supposedly believed that in order to improve the quality of manual labor it would be a good idea to transform workers into golem chimeras... and then transform them back into humans. The civilization was long perished, but the record claimed there was a stone craved with information about the spell that in theory could withdraw his stone part.

Could it be true?

The priest contemplated, "Your demon part would remain, but at least you would look more..." – he searched for an adjective – "plausible among humans."

That was a strange wording, but who cared? Zelgadiss couldn't help his excitement, dare he believe it? Arising hope, so strong it hurt, was already spreading through him like slow poison. Would it be another quest that would leave him again empty-handed?

___- . - . -__ . - _

They were in the mountains, heading to the Valley of Rotting Bones – what a cheerful name.

Zelgadiss was still expecting to reveal the mazoku's ulterior motive, but even despite that he found the road to be enjoying.

They travelled quickly, there was no need to stop for long periods of time to hunt or fish in order to satisfy seemingly bottomless pits of stomachs. Xelloss was chattering nonstop about some inane topics, with Zelgadiss's occasional sarcastic comments. And strangely enough it wasn't annoying, not at all. He even caught himself a few times chuckling in response to some of the priest's silly stories.

And seemingly in less than no time they arrived at the Valley.

What a lovely place it was, to match its name. Scraps of fog as far as the eye could see into the darkness of the valley, obscured from daylight by rocky cliffs. It was almost quiet, not in a tranquil way, and the air was full of a strange buzzing, low almost to the point of being undetected by an ear. No birds were singing. The breeze was chilly, Zelgadiss could see his breath.

A shadow flicked in the fog, too fast to see and ascertain its origin.

"What was that?" asked the chimera gloomily.

"That, I believe, was a specimen of local fauna. They are small predators, not harmful if encountered with only one, but..."

They glanced at the sea of grey, the Valley must be swelling with the creatures, and knowing his luck, there probably was something worse than a small predator. He noticed that some areas of the fog were denser, and had blue currents irregularly charging through them. Naturally, it wouldn't be a hiding place if the things hidden here were easy to find and to take.

Just then Xelloss managed to surprise him yet again:

"You focus on finding the stones, Zelgadiss-san, I'll fend off the creatures."

The chimera was grateful, eager and exited.

But then, as sobering as a cold shower, came a clear vision into his mind:

the creatures defeated, he is standing in front of the ancient stone tablets with a curing spell written on them, now without a doubt. However, just as he is about to read them, the tablets crumble into little pieces and Xelloss's voice tells gently, "I'm sorry, they must be destroyed."

The vision is horrible, should something like that happen Zelgadiss would probably break like the stone in his vision.

The chimera turned to the mazoku, "If you betray me now..." His expression clearly showed what he was feeling.

Xelloss looked very serious, not a trace of usual mirth in his eyes:

"Zelgadiss-san, like I said, I have no intentions of making you unhappy. Unless ordered by Zelas-sama, which is unlikely to happen now, I'm free to do as I wish. And I promise you, I will help you with this."

They gazed at each other.

And Zelgadiss, disregarding all his suspicions and common sense, unexpectedly smiled:

"Thank you, Xelloss."

_- TBC -_

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**AN:** Xelloss is wooing his beloved, MWAHAHAHA!

I do find Zelgadiss a bit insecure, hotheaded and not easy to trust. And, about the Valley of Rotting Bones – I couldn't resist the temptation of such a name, my apologies.

Anyway, next chapter will be from Amelia's POV!

I know there are grammar errors in the text, they are inevitable alas. So, please, should you find them and if you could, point them out to me and not just the fact they exist. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3: Unfair

**Sketch of a Monster**

**- Chapter Three. Unfair -**

Anyone who wanted to follow the right path – the path of Love, Justice and Peace, and, honestly, Amelia was certain everyone should wish so – they naturally had to carry out their duties with responsibility. She was the Seyruun princess, which meant her own duty was to take care of her kingdom, to resolve any troubles, see to whittle down internal turmoil as well as to deal with foreign affairs – and it proved to be a nightmare sometimes! But Amelia understood and accepted her role fully.

But sometimes, sometimes she felt it wasn't enough. After all she was a skillful sorceress, capable of wielding strong white magic, performing powerful healing spells – she could make this world a little better with her own hands. And being a princess prevented her from doing all that – she had to stay by her father's side and help him.

However occasionally, when a dire need for her sorceress side emerged, Amelia would snatch these opportunities and spring to action with greatest vigor.

Such was the case right now. The princess received a letter from Zelgadiss-san, asking for her help. Amelia couldn't abandon a friend in need! Especially if it was Zelgadiss-san.

She sighed. His feelings for her were more sibling-like than she would prefer, but Amelia accepted it. The princess sighed once again. Really now, she was being silly, it was no use getting upset over something that couldn't be changed.

So, it was decided – the right thing to do at the moment was to concentrate on helping Zelgadiss-san.

"But I wonder, what Zelgadiss-san needs my help with?" she mused aloud; after all the letter was very short and contained little details.

"Who knows," Lina replied.

Amelia smiled. While traveling to meet Zelgadiss-san she had heard an explosion and, upon getting closer, had discovered Lina-san and Gourry-san in yet another squabble. Fate seemed to make sure to never separate them for long.

"Maybe he finally found his cure?" the redhead suggested.

"What? After searching for so long, why now?" Amelia was incredulous.

Lina-san smiled strangely, "Well, maybe he got real help this time?"

"Real help?" inquired Gourry. "You mean we really didn't help him before?"

"Never mind, Gourry," the redhead sighed.

Amelia smiled – it was so nice to be among friends.

They arrived at the meeting place later than expected, discovering the awaiting chimera.

"Oi, Zel!" Lina cried. "How are you?"

The shaman's eyebrows quirked up, "Lina? Gourry? I didn't expect to see you here."

"What?" the redhead shouted. "Are you not happy to see me? Don't you need some help from the beautiful ingenious sorceress?"

Amelia sweat-dropped – Lina-san looked quite ruffled, shaking a fist at Zelgadiss-san.

"No, no!" he hastily reassured. "I just need help in performing a strong white magic spell, your black magic is unrequired in this case, that's all, so I wrote to Amelia."

And the shaman started explaining them the current situation.

It appeared Zelgadiss-san encountered a spell-book – or did he say it was ancient stone tablets? – where a spell, a strong white magic spell, was written; and according to the book – or was it the stone tablet? – if cast correctly, this spell was able to separate a golem form from a living creature.

"So," Lina contemplated, "it's not the whole cure, but just a part of it?"

Zelgadiss nodded.

Suddenly Gourry shouted "But!", making all gazes focus on him, expecting. "What is a golem?"

Lina screamed, "How many times must I explain it to you?"

_Well, Gourry-san is Gourry-san_, the princess thought and explained to the sheepishly smiling swordsman, that a golem was a magically originated creature made of stone or clay, and that it was a part of Zelgadiss-san's body.

"The worst part," the chimera gloomily muttered.

"Oh, now I get it," Gourry said.

"What _I_ don't get is how you managed to find out about the stones?" Lina inquired.

"Yes, Zelgadiss-san, it was very lucky," Amelia added.

The shaman looked to the side, then sighed.

"Lucky? Yes, maybe so... Actually I received an unexpected help."

"Really?"

Gourry's eyes widened – "Oh? You mean real help and not our kind of help?" – only to receive a kick from Lina.

"Help? From whom?" the princess asked – it was such a rare occurrence, someone was really nice to Zelgadiss-san and it made Amelia very glad... But why did it seem Zelgadiss-san didn't want to answer her question?

"From Xelloss," he finally admitted quietly.

"From Xelloss?" they all repeated in unison.

Then the blond man knitted his brows, "Umm, I'm sure I heard that name before... Who is Xelloss?"

"Arg!" Lina screamed, and concentrated on reminding Gourry-san who it was... in a rather painful way in Amelia's point of view.

But it wasn't important now!

"Oh," she exclaimed, "it means Xelloss-san has finally decided to follow Justice!"

Lina distracted from the blond, "No, I don't think his motives have anything to do with Justice, Amelia."

"But why would Xelloss-san..."

"Yes, why would Xelloss-san?" came a soft voice of the priest.

The mazoku appeared near them, smiling, "Hello!"

"Xelloss!"

Amelia blinked in surprise – it sure was nice to see Zelgadiss-san reacting to the priest not in his usual, rather rude, way. Instead the chimera merely nodded in greeting.

"Oh, I see," the monster said. "So, is Amelia-san the white mage you decided to help you with casting that spell, Zelgadiss-san?"

"Xelloss-san!" the princess was ecstatic. "Is it true you finally are going to..."

"Amelia!" Zelgadiss-san cut her off, and it seemed there was a warning in his tone.

"It's nice of you to drop by, Xelloss," Lina smiled at him.

The priest returned the smile, and then asked turning to the chimera, "In any case, have you found out where to get the item necessary for the spell?"

The shaman nodded, "Yes. It appears the town nearby – Guaranda – has a shrine where it could be."

"Splendid! So you are heading towards it now."

"That was the plan," Zelgadiss confirmed.

"Are you planning to tag along?" Lina inquired.

The mazoku titled his head to the side, "Well, I am rather free at the moment, so why not? ... That is," he looked more seriously at them, "if you don't mind my company."

Why did it sound to Amelia as if he was mostly asking Zelgadiss-san? On the other hand it _was_ his cure they were trying to perform.

The shaman shrugged looking to the side, "Whatever."

"Wonderful!" the priest's smile grew.

"Wonderful indeed," Lina interrupted. "So hurry up, you people, let's get going... I'm really hungry!"

"Me too!" added Gourry.

The princess sighed: really, they never changed.

___- . - . -__ . - _

_What a wonderful weather_, thought Amelia gazing at the clouds lazily floating in the sky – a warm summer day. She sighed, it was definitely pleasant to travel with her friends, and she was sure Xelloss-san was finally their friend, though he seemed to make Zelgadiss-san frustrated at the moment with whatever it was he was saying, but he didn't mean any harm, did he? And that was all that mattered.

They were nearing the Town of Guaranda, its towers could already be seen.

The princess couldn't recall ever dealing with anything related to the town, and it must have been a lovely place to have a shrine they were looking for.

They rounded yet another corner to find the road has led them right to the gates of the town.

But it looked more guarded than she expected, with a huge wall and even a moat with a heavy bridge over it, currently being down though.

"There sure are a lot of guards," Gourry commented. "Hey, Lina, do you think we are wanted criminals again?"

"No, I hope not," the redhead looked troubled.

"Xelloss," Zelgadiss said, "what do you know about the place?"

"Mm, not much, really. It's an outcaste town, and as far as I know there wasn't much of anything happening in it to draw attention."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Lina strode forward, confident as usual.

But the guards blocked the path, "Halt!"

"What? What's wrong?" the redhead demanded.

"Who are you? What is your business with our town?" asked one of the guards, apparently the captain, his posture was threatening, holding a hand around a hilt of a half unsheathed sword.

Amelia looked at Zelgadiss-san, who was trying to hide his features under the hood, and then at Lina-san, who was quickly getting impatient, and decided to make good use of her diplomatic skills:

"We're just travellers. We want to visit your shrine, and we came a long way just for that purpose."

"Travellers? Well, you four may enter," the guard indicated her, Lina-san, Gourry-san and Xelloss-san. "But he," he gestured towards Zelgadiss-san, "he may not."

"What?"

"He looks strange, almost like a mazoku. And this town doesn't allow monsters to enter," the captain squared his shoulders indicating the finality of the decision.

Oh, how unfair!

"But... But Zelgadiss-san is not a monster!" Amelia cried, it was just so unjust!

And poor Zelgadiss-san was standing further away and looking completely miserable. No! She couldn't allow that!

But surprisingly Gourry-san stepped forward, "No, you are wrong! Zel is not a monster. The real monster is Xe..." but he was not able to finish the sentence, having been hit by Lina.

Yet strangely enough Xelloss-san seemed not interested in the conversation, instead he was saying something quietly to Zelgadiss-san, who was standing stiff, arms crossed over his chest.

Meanwhile the redhead turned to face the guard.

"Hey, mister! I don't care what the rules in your town are, we – all of us – are entering it, and that's final."

She did sound angry.

No, no, no! That was not the way to deal with the problem, Amelia was sure they could reason it out.

She stepped between them, smiling at the captain.

"May we speak with your leader about it? Maybe he would make an exception for us."

The guard snorted, "The Mayor will see no one."

Oh well, it seemed she had no choice. Amelia always disliked using her privileges, but surely this time it was justified.

The princess showed the Royal Seyruun seal, "I insist."

___- . - . -__ . - _

The Mayor of the Guaranda Town, an elderly looking man with a long grey beard and a longer cloak, listened as they explained, as best as they could, that they wanted to enter the town only to retrieve some of the healing water from the shrine, which was needed to lift a curse that made Zelgadiss-san look the way he did.

But the Mayor only sighed, shaking his head, "I apologize, Your Highness, but I cannot make such an exception to our rules. Unless your companion can prove he is not a mazoku, and I don't believe that is possible, he may not enter our town."

"Yes he _can_ prove it!" Lina shouted. "If he _was_ a mazoku he wouldn't have bothered with asking for your idiotic permission, and instead would have just teleported to the shrine!"

"Be that as it may, I cannot give him the permission," the Mayor didn't give up.

"But... But that is so unfair!" Amelia felt tears beginning to form in her eyes. And Zelgadiss-san was so quiet, why didn't he say anything in his defense?

The Mayor looked at her with a torn expression, "Please, you must understand!"

"No, I don't," Lina growled.

"But I have no authority to give such permission," the old man sounded distressed. "It would go against all our traditions, it would be a sacrilege if a monster entered this place! I cannot betray my town that way!"

"Huh? I know monsters are not in anyone's good graces, but isn't it a little overblown here?" the redhead asked.

The Mayor sighed, "Let me explain. You see, the town of Guaranda grew and became prosperous only recently, before that it was a mere village. And the person who helped its progress was a great white sorceress Guaranda, she helped to build the shrine and was its first priestess. Without her the town wouldn't be in the state it is now, and in fact it was renamed after her."

The man stroked his beard, lost in heavy thoughts, then continued, "But the sorceress would probably have lived with us much longer, and would have helped and supported us more, if only something terrible hadn't happened."

"Terrible?" Amelia repeated.

"Yes," the Mayor said. "And it was a monster's fault," he sighed.

"A monster killed her?" Lina tried to guess.

The man laughed mirthlessly, "What the monster did was much worse. You see, he claimed he was in love with the sorceress Guaranda."

"What?" Amelia exclaimed, how can a monster love?

"Yes, can you imagine a monster in love?" demanded the Mayor.

"He-he-he," Lina laughed, and it was a very strange sound.

Amelia looked at her companions. Gourry-san was just blinking at them. Zelgadiss-san was intently staring at the Mayor, his expression unreadable. And Xelloss-san, standing further away, had his face hidden behind the purple hair.

The princess turned her attention to their opponent, "Was it true?"

"No, of course not!" the man spat. "How can you believe that a monster can feel such emotion as love? He deceived Guaranda, and she believed him! The mazoku followed her constantly, always by her side poisoning her mind. And he succeed, she finally lowered her guard and wasn't suspicious of his presence any longer. And then he struck. One dark night he just attacked and killed her. A few people heard a scream and saw a fleeing form of a monster. Her body was found bloodless, twisted, with a look of indescribable horror in her eyes. That was the end of the great white sorceress Guaranda."

The Mayor was almost shouting, his gaze angrily piercing at them.

"How do you know?" Lina asked quietly.

"What?" the man looked baffled.

"How do you know that was what really happened?" the redhead elaborated. "How do you know the sorceress died by his hand? Nobody actually witnessed it, how do you know what happened?"

"What are you saying?" the Mayor cried. "Obviously it was a thing a monster would do. There are no alternatives! This is what you get when dealing with a monster!"

He seemed to realize he was shouting and took several deep breaths to calm down. Then went on:

"Since that time we have a stature of a crying Guaranda in the middle of the fountain in the shrine; and the tears she cries have healing povers."

The Mayor sighed, "That is why, as long as I can have my word, no foot of a mazoku will enter the town!"

His gaze was heavy and determined.

"Why, you..." Lina started again.

"Lina! Stop it," were the first words Zelgadiss-san uttered since the beginning of the argument.

They all looked at him expectantly.

The shaman sighed, "It's not like we need to be in the town to cast the spell. We just need some of that water, so you can get it while I wait for you outside."

He turned to the Mayor, "You do allow the four of them to enter, don't you?"

"Yes, they may enter if they wish so."

"But..." Amelia started to protest once again, the whole thing was just so wrong!

"Oh, drop it, Amelia," Zelgadiss interrupted. "It's their town and their traditions, we should respect them no matter how we feel about it."

"But, Zel, are you OK with it?" Lina asked.

He nodded, "Yes. As long as we get the water. It is unpleasant, but right now I just hope the spell will work, and it will be the last time something like _this_ happens."

He actually smiled at them.

Oh, Zelgadiss-san! He was such a nice person! Amelia's eyes swelled with tears.

"Now go," the shaman said.

"Yes!" the princess nodded, filled with eager determination. _Don't you worry, Zelgadiss-san, we'll get the water for you!_

"I think I'll stay here as well," Xelloss unexpectedly said.

"What? Don't you want to enter the town?" the chimera inquired.

"Hmmm, not really. Besides, after all that, wouldn't it be unfair if I did?" the mazoku smiled.

Lina-san tugged at Amelia's sleeve, dragging her and Gourry-san into the town. The princess was able to hear Zelgadiss-san's grumbled "Since when do _you_ care what is fair?" and Xelloss-san's usual "Sore wa himitsu desu" in reply.

The guards parted to let them path.

Amelia looked behind her at the two remaining companions left behind the wall and smiled – Xelloss-san was acting fair for once.

"It sure is nice of Xelloss-san," she commented out loud.

"Yeah, it is nice of him," Lina smiled such a sweet smile that it made the princess surprised.

"What, Lina-san?"

"Never mind. Let's find the stupid shrine and bring Zel some of that water," the redhead's demeanor was once again confident.

"Of course!" the princess beamed.

"Lina," Gourry interrupted them, "I wanted to ask, why do we need that water?"

Lina sighed, while Amelia just laughed a little – Gourry-san was Gourry-san.

___- . - . -__ . - _

Amelia felt much better now, when they were quite far away from the Town of Guaranda, carrying several flasks of the healing water with them – they would need only a little bit of it, just enough to draw a magical symbol, but had precautiously gotten more, just in case, after all none of them wanted to go back to the shrine in that town.

The journey went mostly in silence; the princess could only guess what kind of thoughts were running through her companions' minds, but judging by their expressions, not very pleasant ones.

She was herself feeling the bitterness of the aftertaste from the welcome party they got. It was just so unbearably and painfully unfair it made her chest hurt. To think that Zelgadiss-san was not a stranger to something like that! She couldn't even imagine how painful and sad it must feel to be constantly regarded as a monster.

And yet... and yet she couldn't deny that Xelloss-san was acting surprisingly nice, and he was a mazoku himself. Not to mention that story they heard from the Mayor of the Guaranda Town. No matter if the tale was true, it made her wonder – can mazoku love?

What if, – and her heart achingly clutched at that thought – what if they were wrong and that in reality monsters could feel such wonderful emotions as love? That would mean they have been mistreating monsters all this time! No, that would be so unjust, the princess couldn't allow something like that!

But Amelia wasn't sure, the information on mazoku was very limited. However, one of their race was just nearby, currently floating a few meters in the air, looking unusually solemn and quiet.

_Well_, she thought, _it won't hurt to try_. Thus hardening her resolve, Amelia approached the priest.

"Xelloss-san," she asked quietly, "I was wondering... Could you answer my question, please?" And before losing her nerve, asked, "Can a mazoku be in love?"

They all stopped and looked at the priest, who landed his feet on the ground, lowering his head.

"It made you wonder, didn't it?" Xelloss let out a shaky sounding chuckle, opening his glowing violet eyes. "Maybe I should pay that town another visit, to make sure their impression of monsters is correct?"

"Oh, knock it off, will you?" Zelgadiss said. "Even I am no longer angry at them, though I probably should be. Just answer the question."

The priest looked at him for a few moments then sighed, closing his eyes, "Oh well, I suppose I can answer it."

He sighed once again, then lowered his head a little so that shadow fell over half of his face.

"Yes," was the final answer, "a mazoku can fall in love."

The princess gasped, "Oh!"

Xelloss continued, "Admittedly, it is very rare for a mazoku to feel such emotion, but it is possible, and it is known to have happened in the past."

"Isn't love a positive emotion?" the chimera asked.

"Well, yes. But monsters can feel joy, happiness, amusement, excitement as well. These also are positive emotions, no matter what their cause is, and yet you are not surprised by that, are you? Mazoku cannot be harmed by their own emotions."

"But what about the emotions of the one a monster loves?" Lina asked.

"Ah, it's more complicated," Xelloss smiled his usual smile. "My current theory is that L-sama has a... peculiar sense of humor."

"Huh?"

"You see," he elaborated, lifting a forefinger, "normally, a mazoku feeds of negative emotions, and dislikes positive emotions, to the point of being hurt by them, but you already know it. However, with someone a mazoku loves it is completely different: said mazoku just cannot sense – doesn't know! – what the one they love feels. Ironic, really," he chuckled, yet somehow to Amelia it sounded... bitter?

"You are saying," Zelgadiss asked, "that once a monster is in love, it won't know if the one it loves is happy or sad?"

"Basically yes," the priest nodded. "And so, theoretically, if that person is happy and joyful, the mazoku won't get hurt by such emotions."

They fell silent, thinking over what was said.

"But what about that sorceress, Guaranda? And that monster that claimed to love her?" Amelia asked. "Could he be the one who killed her?"

The priest shrugged his shoulders, "I have never heard of this story, so I don't know. However, a monster's love, just like hate, anger, joy or any other emotion, are not different from the respective emotions the other races feel. So, hypothetically, that mazoku, if it is true he was in love, would not have wanted for the sorceress he loved to be unhappy, so he hardly could have been the one who killed her."

"If it wasn't he, than who did kill her?" Lina asked.

"Assuming she really was killed," Zelgadiss pointed out.

Xelloss scratched the back of his neck, "Well, I did tell you I'm not familiar with the story. But, once again in theory, that monster could have been unaware he was hurting the sorceress without meaning it. But what is more probable is that he had enemies among monster race, who found out about his feelings..."

"...And killed her to get to him," Zelgadiss gravely finished.

"No!" Amelia gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. It was so wrong!

"And now she's crying her healing teats," the princess said quietly, her own eyes watering.

"Oh well, we don't know if that was what really happened," Xelloss clapped his hands, his expression turned back to the usually cheerful one.

"Wow, Xelloss sure told us a lot today," Gourry sounded amazed.

"Yes, it _was_ a long speech, surprisingly lacking the usual 'himitsu desu' phrase," Zelgadiss narrowed his eyes at the priest.

"Xelloss, maybe you want to share some of _your_ secrets now?" Lina's smirk was pure evil.

The mazoku said something under his breath.

"What is that you're mumbling?" the redhead demanded.

"You are so mean, Lina-san! And here I was being nice to you, answering your questions," Xelloss pouted. "Really, you'll make me cry."

That earned a snort from Zelgadiss.

Lina just shook her head, smiling. Then turned to the chimera, "Speaking of tears, don't you have a spell to perform, Zel?"

The shaman's eyes widened, "Yes, of course. Now that we're far away from that town and any other villages... Amelia," he looked at her searchingly, "do you think you could do it?"

The princess meanwhile was deep in thoughts about how the monsters seemed to be not as heartless as she had previously thought, but snapped out of her musings when the shaman addressed her.

"Yes," she nodded, "just give me some time to rest and collect myself."

Zelgadiss-san smiled at her, "Of course, whenever you wish."

Amelia couldn't help but smile back at him.

Yes, it was true, unfortunately the world was full of wrongness, of unfairness and hurt. But she, as a princess, or as a white sorceress, or as their friend, would do everything in her might to help and make it better.

So now, in order to squash that unfairness with her own hands, Amelia had to concentrate on the spell, she could do it!

"Amelia, for the love of Gods, get down here from that treetop!" [*]

_- TBC -_

_- . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -_

_

* * *

_

* - I couldn't resist!

**AN****:** The gradual changes in interaction between Xelloss and Zelgadiss are very subtle in this chapter... well, because the author believes Amelia would not notice most of them.

I apologize it took all those months to update, but it proved to be a bigger challenge than expected – to write from Amelia's POV. However, that's a child's game compared to the next one – Gourry! You don't believe Gourry's POV is difficult to catch? Then pray tell me, how do silly people think?

**[****Warning! - an unrelated discussion]** They are not slow-witted, nor are they unfocused or absentminded. Maybe the combination of the above? My sister (Selina-oneesan) told me silly people are unable to perform higher abstract-logical thinking, and that they cannot correctly tell if the algorithms of their thinking are flawed, if the data they are operating with is correct... I was able to understand what she meant the second time she repeated it *snorts*.

Anyway, I haven't made up my mind about silly people yet. But what do you think?


	4. Chapter 4: Unwise

**Sketch of a Monster**

**- Chapter Four. Unwise -**

"Um-num-num," _munch-munch_, that was good, just one last gulp of that... what was it in his glass? – he had to ask Lina about it... but it sure tasted delicious, _gulp-gulp, yeah_!

With a satisfied sigh Gourry fell back on his seat and through half-closed eyes looked at the redheaded girl sitting in front of him.

Lina was full, Lina wasn't going to start fighting him over the last piece of food, Lina looked content. Which meant he wasn't going to be beaten on his head, the last piece of food wasn't going to be taken away from him, he was content. Life was good.

Gourry looked through the window of the inn they were dining at. Rays of sun richly soaked the fields, children were running through the long green grass, playing their games. Life was very-very good.

Lina, using a toothpick to scratch between her teeth, smiled, her voice slightly distorted by her ministrations, "Oh, how I love food in this kingdom. Ain't it great we decided to meet here, ne, Gourry?"

"Eh? Meat?" Yeah, meat was very good here indeed; the roast beef they ate just now was absolutely delicious.

"And to think he finally found what he was searching for..." she went on dreamily.

"He? Who?" Gourry honestly couldn't understand who Lina was talking about, weren't they just discussing meat?

One red eye opened to peer at him. The sorceress sighed and got up a little in her chair to lean closer to the swordsman.

"Gourry, do you remember why we went all the way here?"

The blond looked at the ceiling... its beams were rotten in several places, the roof could crumble down any moment now, it was really dangerous... Oh, Lina was asking something, wasn't she?

"Umm, no..."

The redhead sighed and mumbled, "Should've guessed." Then she straightened up and looked at Gourry closely... Honestly, she had such beautiful eyes.

"OK, listen up, you jellyfish for brains, and pay attention!" Lina said. "You remember the last time we saw Zelgadiss?"

He nodded.

"All the time we knew him, he was cursed with that creepy look by Rezo the Red Priest, and Zel was always searching for the cure to turn himself back to normal, remember?"

Gourry nodded again, this time more certain in his answer, after all he hadn't forgotten how unhappy and desperate their friend was, and how all the time he was searching for something, unable to find it.

"... And it was quite hopeless, or at least I thought it was," Lina went on with the explanation. "Until about a month ago Zel discovered an ancient spell, a spell that would extract a golem part from him, a spell that would make him look more human. Remember that? We helped Zel to search for magical water to cast that spell... Oh, how I'd like to beat the crap out of that old Mayor..."

The redhead was getting riled up. So Gourry tried to calm her down.

"Anyway, once we had all we needed, Amelia helped Zel to cast the spell. Don't you remember it, Gourry?"

"Oh, yeah!" the swordsman smiled. Now that Lina reminded him, he could clearly see in his mind the events of that day, how Amelia drew a circle around Zelgadiss with the water, how they started to mumble some strange, unrecognizable words, how the circle began to shine with blinding white light, and how when it all faded away a figure of a man was lying in the middle, unconscious.

"I remember," Gourry laughed. "Zel sure was glad!"

"So he was," Lina agreed.

They were quiet for a while. The sorceress, supporting her chin with one hand, gazed dreamily at the sun soaked fields.

"So now you see?" she asked. "Once Zel woke up and understood that the spell worked, he was very-very happy... All of us were. And once we are happy, what do we do?"

"Do?" Gourry titled his head.

"Party, of course!" the girl yelled, beaming, "and Zel is paying!"

"Umm, I don't remember him saying that," the swordsman muttered.

"Well," Lina giggled, "not in those words, no. But the grumpy Zel just had to run off on some business, who knows where. Jeez, and to think the guy finally had what he wanted all this time, but he's still so impatient! ... Anyway, we stopped him in time and made him promise to join us, all of us, once again."

Gourry nodded several times, he remembered all of that. Amelia was in tears, they were all so excited. But he also remembered a figure standing further away, its eyes hidden in shadow.

"And Xelloss?" he asked.

"What about Xelloss?" asked Lina back.

"Will he be there? ... He would like to be there," or at least the blond felt that way.

"Why do you think so?"

Gourry looked at Lina. The way she was regarding him right now, and the way she asked the question... it was strange somehow.

"I don't know. I just do," and it was true.

"Gourry, you sure have some strange thoughts from time to time. Tell me, why do you think Xelloss would like to be there?"

The blond shrugged, unsure, "I don't know... But Xelloss is our friend, right? And he cares about us, I guess. He cares about Zelgadiss a lot."

Lina studied him keenly and then, to his surprise, smiled one of the sweetest smiles he ever saw.

"Yeah, I guess he does."

The noise of a breaking glass shattered the pleasant tranquility around them.

"Hey!" the innkeeper shouted. "You! Get back here!" and ran outside.

From their table Lina and Gourry exchanged a worried glance.

Not long after the innkeeper stepped inside, looking rather displeased.

"What happened?" a woman asked.

"A couple of damn freeloaders!" the man shouted. "They were sitting here just now, when all of the sudden they decided it would be a great idea not to pay for their meal and took off."

"Don't worry, dear," the woman put a calming hand onto the host's shoulder. "Those men didn't order anything, except for some water... strange customers. Though they did break a vase."

As the couple went back, Lina frowned and Gourry thought, strange, wasn't he feeling peaceful and content a few minutes ago? Then why was he feeling worried suddenly? Somehow the mood of the world changed.

- . - . - . -

The clouds were so pretty... and that one even resembled a delicious pie. They were walking through beautiful scenery. Lina was frowning all this time. What happened? The swordsman didn't see any possible danger. So why couldn't he get rid of that unpleasant feeling?

"Ne, Gourry," Lina started quietly. Then stopped and looked around.

He did the same. There was not a soul nearby.

Gourry yelped as Lina pulled him closer by the ear to whisper, "Listen, it's very-very important."

The blond crouched down near the sorceress, all focused, feeling something serious was troubling her.

"Remember you told that Xelloss cares about Zel?" she whispered.

Gourry nodded.

"Well, you can't tell it to anyone. No one should know about it, OK?"

The swordsman was astonished, "But why?"

"Shhh," the redhead shushed him, then continued in even quieter whisper. "It's very complicated and I won't go into details, but the point is that this is one of Xelloss's secrets and for once I agree he should keep it secret, do you understand?"

Gourry didn't. But Lina was asking him, and she looked very worried, so, "I won't tell anyone," he vowed.

Lina studied him for a few more seconds, then laughed, getting back on her feet and slapping him on a shoulder, rather painfully.

"Thanks, Gourry," she beamed at him and added a bit warmer, "you're the best!"

The blond's eyes widened. Suddenly he ran out of breath and his heart was beating frantically, looking at the retreating back of the girl. The swordsman blinked. What had just happened?

"Hey, wait for me," he hurried after Lina.

- . - . - . -

They came to a clearing in the forest. There was a figure sitting there, cross-legged and calm, surrounded by the greenery of nature.

Lina laughed, "Hey, hey, look who's here. Zelgadiss, long time no see."

The figure stood up and started to walk towards them. Gourry stared. He couldn't recognize the one approaching them and yet he could: the posture, the step, the gestures were all familiar. However there was something off about the stranger, how he seemed more confident and light.

Gourry smiled, Zel sure looked happier than before, "Hello!"

The shaman greeted them.

Lina scrutinized him, "Well, Zel, I bet you have trouble keeping all the girls off from you, now that you look so cute, and those pointy ears of yours are – now, what's the word? – ah, adorable!" she gave him an evil, sly smile, which made the chimera fidget and blush.

"Don't be silly, Lina," he protested grumpily.

"OK, as you wish, never mind about that," the sorceress waved a hand. "Do you have any food, I'm starving!"

Gourry blinked, he was kinda hungry too.

Zel answered dryly, "Yes, in a matter of fact I do. But you won't get any until Amelia arrives."

The redhead pouted, "She's late, so it only serves her right."

Gourry lifted his head, "Where have you been, Zel?"

His companions sighed in unison. What was it he said wrong again?

"I've told you," the shaman explained, "I wanted to visit the place I grew up."

"Oh. Why?"

"I just wanted to, OK?" the man started to look a bit annoyed.

"So, something interesting happened?" Lina asked sitting down; the men followed her example, flopping down on the fuzzy grass.

Zelgadiss sighed once again. Gourry blinked, it was so strange to see him looking as an ordinary human, though those ears, he leaned in to get a closer look, they were...

"What are you doing, you slug for brains?" Lina asked.

"Zel, your ears, they are..."

"Don't touch it," the chimera swatted his hand away just as Gourry was about to say "cute".

"They are just a bit pointy... and fluffy... probably from my demon part. Leave them be!"

Lina giggled, "Did you meet someone you knew on your journey?"

Zelgadiss looked down, shrugging, "Not exactly... Nothing interesting happened."

"Oh, come on, you did meet someone, so spill it out," the redhead said in a voice she sometimes used on Gourry... though he still couldn't figure out what she wanted to say all those times.

The shaman sighed, "Just Xelloss."

He looked like he was struggling with something, but Gourry didn't know what with. Then suddenly Zelgadiss, his hands gesturing widely, started an agitating rant:

"That monster... he constantly shows up, sometimes for a mare minute, and sometimes floating around for hours, always annoying, giving comments and his damned opinion about everything or being completely silent. I don't get him at all! What does he want?"

Gourry laughed, "Well, I'm not surprised, after all... ouch!" – searing pain shot through him as he was sent flying backwards. Ouch, what the hell?

"He-he," he heard Lina's laugh, "silly Gourry." And she gave him _a look_.

Oh. He knew that _look_. That _look_ usually meant something big and something not very good for him. But what? And now she was glaring at him. What? ... Oh! Gourry remembered: he promised not to tell anyone that Xelloss really cared for Zel. Not even to Zel... What a strange thing to promise.

The swordsman rubbed the back of his neck – oops, he almost told the secret.

Zelgadiss was looking at them suspiciously, "What? What's not surprising?"

"Ah," Lina laughed, "remember Xelloss said we're his friends? So that was a friendly visit. So it's not surprising at all, ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Gourry knew that laugh was not real Lina's laugh.

"You're stranger than normal," Zel muttered.

"Really?" Lina asked. "Oh, look who's there, isn't it Amelia? Amelia!"

The redhead waved and took off to great the princess.

At that moment Gourry sucked in a breath – someone else was nearby, and that someone was dangerous.

He was just reaching for his sword and was about to shout a warning when everything around them changed.

A dark cloud of energy burst through their group, blowing and whizzing, knocking everybody down.

Someone was shouting; Gourry could distinguish Lina's voice. Was she all right? No, he had to calm down. She was strong. She would be all right.

The wind, unnatural cold and heavy wind, was still blowing and buzzing.

Gourry saw a figure not far away. It was black. He lifted his sword and charged at the dark form, but it disappeared right before he could manage a hit.

The swordsman turned around, searching for the enemy. The wind made his hair struck his eyes. It was difficult to breathe.

From a corner of his eye he saw Zelgadiss firing a spell towards someone and then lifting up the sword, but it looked like the shaman wasn't used to the weight of the sword and he stumbled in his steps.

Gourry hurried in that direction, but he was too late.

A black silhouette appeared behind Zelgadiss and struck, making the man fall, while another figure appeared in front of him and caught the shaman.

The swordsman could hear Amelia yell, but the wind was getting heavier and darker, so that for a moment Gourry couldn't see a thing.

_Where's Lina? Is she all right?_ were the only thoughts in his mind, but in a heartbeat all went still.

Gourry blinked adjusting to the suddenly blinding clear sky on a sunny day.

They were at the clearing in the forest. Just the tree of them, standing, looking around them, ready for a sudden attack. Where was Zel?

A laugh drew their attention. The air flickered, grew denser, and three figures appeared, one of them was unconscious. It was Zelgadiss.

"Stop right where you are!" one of the figures said.

That voice sounded strange to Gourry. He looked at them closely; they appeared to be normal people, both wearing dark cloaks. But that voice, it made unpleasant shivers run down his spine.

"Are you mazoku?" Lina gritted out through her teeth.

"Very observant," the other said.

"What do you want with Zelgadiss-san?" Amelia cried.

The figures smiled.

"Your chimerical friend over here? Oh, we have great plans for him."

"You! I'll get to you!" Lina promised.

"Silence!" the taller monster snapped. "Though it would bring me great pleasure to torture and slowly kill you, Lina Inverse, for what you did to Hellmaster Fibrizzo-sama, but right now you will be our messenger."

Hellmaster Fibrizzo? Gourry couldn't remember him. He shook his head – right now was not the time for such thoughts.

"What do you want?" the redhead demanded.

The monster with Zel in his arms smiled, "You, Lina Inverse, are going to deliver a message to Xelloss Metallium. You are going to tell him that if he wants to see the chimera alive he is better to give us the Red Stone of Madness." [*]

"What stone?"

"Oh. You have seen it. It is the stone he is constantly carrying with him. It is the stone that is embodied in his staff."

"Just who are you?" Amelia asked, her hands tightly clutched.

"We were the servants of Hellmaster Fibrizzo-sama. Xelloss knows where to find us."

The taller one added in a low voice, "Tell him to hurry, or else..."

They disappeared from sight, taking unconscious Zelgadiss with them.

"Damn it all to hell!" Lina screamed. Then she laughed bitterly, "Those were the ones from the inn..." she kicked a stone nearby.

Amelia slid down onto the burned grass; tears were glinting on her cheeks.

Gourry's shoulders slumped. Poor Zel.

"But why?" the princess quietly asked. "Why would they need Zelgadiss-san to make Xelloss-san give them what they want?"

She looked at them with a gaze that was full of worry and incomprehension.

Gourry frowned. Would it be unwise to tell Xelloss's secret to her?

_- TBC -_

_- . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -__ . - . -_

* * *

***** I swear, I've exhausted my imagination trying to invent the magical artifacts for this fic.

**AN:** The author hopes Gourry was in character here. Maybe he turned out to be a bit more absent-minded than silly, but the author sees him as someone who has great intuition but rarely uses it when not in "battle mood" so he was portrayed as such.

I'm sorry for taking is so long to update, but the fact is I've been caught up in _Baccano!_ anime to notice anything else. By the way, if you haven't watched it, I highly recommend it – a real masterpiece.

Anyway, the next chapter – oh-ho-ho! – finally something I wanted to write all along – Xelloss's POV!


	5. Chapter 5: Undeniable

**Sketch of a Monster**

**- Chapter Five. Undeniable -**

Strange... There he was – a Monster, and not just any monster, but the fifth most powerful one in the world (considering Hellmaster Fibrizzo was destroyed and not counting The Dark Lord Shabranigdo), – and yet Xelloss felt so powerless, so completely and utterly weak, so... human. His heart was hammering like crazy, and he didn't even _have_ a heart to begin with. It was ironic, so funny, really, though Xelloss couldn't bring himself to laugh. Oh, L-sama had a twisted sense of humor, for sure, because how else one could explain this situation?

The mazoku paused to calm down, then let himself consider all the facts and possibilities – something that should have been quite easy to do.

Zelgadiss was taken by two monsters, formerly the servants of Hellmaster Fibrizzo, the same Hellmaster Fibrizzo he indirectly helped to destroy. And now they wanted revenge and power.

But how did they knew his weakness? How did they knew whom they should take to make him do their bidding?

Xelloss sighed – he knew the answer to that question. Lina, looking as close to heartbroken as she could get, told that the two mazoku probably overheard her conversation with Gourry; and as luck would have it the blond swordsman, the one everybody believed to be a brainless idiot, commented that he, Zelgadiss Graywords, was very important to him, Xelloss Metallium.

This time the monster couldn't hold in the hysterical bubble of laugher. Honestly, even Gourry knew his most guarded secret.

Yet, in all truth, Lina was not the only one to blame. He himself was the main culprit. Oh, not for having such feelings (and he despised that word) in the first place – Xelloss was long past the denial, – but for slipping, for losing his guard. He was spending too much time with this group of four remarkable people, enjoying their presence, it was no wonder someone noticed. The enemy could have taken anyone, but they made a guess, and how damn right a guess it was. Now the chimera was threatened, and would most probably die if he didn't give the stone away.

Xelloss looked at the staff in his hand, at the orb on top of it – it answered with a pulse of energy, gentle light swirling amidst. Oh no, the Stone of Madness was not to befall in the wrong hands – there was no telling what might happen.

And yet, and yet Xelloss would rather give it away or crush it into tiny little pieces than have Zelgadiss harmed in any way. He chuckled, how the mighty have fallen.

The priest couldn't distinctly tell when _it_ happened. There was no arguing that the young man was fascinating; and no matter how much Zelgadiss claimed himself to be a monster, Xelloss knew better – he could see the undeniable core of humanity running deep within him, deeper than all the superficial sings, the fears, the doubts, the anguish. And it was a surprisingly beautiful sight to behold, interesting, mesmerizing, alluring to Xelloss. The time revealed that bizarre beauty to be wrapped into a complex being with dry wits and even drier humor, strong pride and curiosity that could rival Xelloss's own. So amazingly the priest found himself not wishing for this creature to perish. The revelation was only mildly alarming, for Xelloss reasoned that he would not like for any one from that group of people to die and end all the fun they brought along. But then... Then one evening by a fireplace, away from strangers' eyes, when the four humans were content to lazily loiter around without any distinct goal, someone said a silly little comment – so insignificant and not important that Xelloss couldn't remember it though he tried to – and then a miracle happened: the frown on Zelgadisse's face disappeared and he smiled a tiny smile, but so sweet and tender, and suddenly it hit Xelloss so hard he choked – he couldn't tell what emotions the chimera was feeling!

The shock spasmed through him and the priest faded out of the place – he fled, anywhere but away, far away, so he could breathe, so he could think.

Logically there was only one plausible explanation, under the stipulation that no charm was cast to prevent the monster to sense what the shaman was feeling (and he repeatedly and meticulously checked for any signs, finding none).

Juuou-sama had openly laughed at Xelloss. She said it took him long to notice it.

Xelloss repressed the urge to sulk at his master; partly because sulking was beneath him, and partly because he felt so overwhelmed with emotions: with panic, with fear, with anger, with indignation at the world in general, with irritation and the feeling of betrayal at his master... his wonderful master... who told him he should stop acting like a teenage human girl of all things!

The months that followed were quite possibly the worst time in his life. Xelloss, frantic and desperate, searched for any kind of exit, stumbled and rushed through all the knowledge that ever existed on the subject of mazoku love, he even found a few dragon manuscripts – the war trophies, the bitter reminders of the greater days. Yet all the effort was in vain.

The priest, defeated, hopeless and hollow, went to his master for any advice.

Juuou-sama in all her feral wisdom simply informed him that unlike her follower, she knew of what was going on for a long time, and she could easily have avoided it by killing the chimera at the beginning, thus effectively ending all progress of the priest's attitude towards the human. But she decided not to. And, "Come really, Xelloss, it's not so terrible. Being in love could be fun!"

These words were a clear sign of how totally boring and uneventful the life became for the Beastmaster. But strangely enough they helped a reluctant acceptance to creep upon Xelloss.

So he was in love. It was terrifying, astounding and insurmountable, but in the World where he thought he faced near-death experiences times without number, where the thrill now and then was an everyday occurrence, but also where Xelloss thought there would be no great surprises for him in the millenniums to come, well, maybe, just maybe being in love was indeed not so terrible.

The acceptance brought on its heels the feeling of unbreakable sadness, for it was no secret that the object of his love hated him.

Oh the irony of the world – Xelloss felt like he would do anything in his might just to make the chimera a little bit happier, but his own presence, his mare existence, brought anger to Zelgadiss.

And thus the priest had signed his fate to quietly and heedfully watch over the shaman, helping when possible, but always from afar and never close, always pretending and never leaving the masks behind, never letting the truth that burned the depth of his being to slip through the strong hold and his custom smile.

But then, amazingly, Lina saw right through him and brought an advice.

"You know, Zel hates you because you seem to constantly be in his way to the thing he desires like crazy – his cure. So, why don't you help him find it?"

Xelloss quietly considered the second greatest surprise in this millennium – it appeared he really had someone who cared for him, a friend. He thanked her uncharacteristically humble, then proceeded to cling to the advice like a blind newborn.

The mission was interesting to say the least – to make the chimera believe he was bored and had nothing else to do, to be casual enough, and not to look like someone who was carefully weighting every move and word. Leastwise it required stealth and cunning, and if there was anything Xelloss was good at it was these two qualities.

The results were magnificent. Zelgadiss started to trust him enough to feel at ease in his presence, to great him without displeasure and occasionally to engage in long, easygoing conversations.

And now these two fleabags, the insolent fools dared to destroy the harmony the priest spent so long to build. For underneath all the words and secrets laid painful truth – it was Xelloss's weakness that led to Zelgadiss being hurt, and if the shaman found out about it he would _never_ trust Xelloss again.

- . - . - . -

Finding their hideout was easier than one could think. Partly because it was stationed in the center of a strong magical flow. Humans didn't know about it, or haven't noticed, but the fact was that magical energy crossing their world sometimes concentrated in different locations, made peculiar whirls and curls there. Monsters (and dragons too, the bastards) liked to make their bases in such places. Partly, of course, it was because the two monsters wanted to be found.

Xelloss appeared nearby as secretly unnoticed as he could. Sure, these two if combined would be as powerful (if not more) as he was. But they were driven by revenge and desire for power, and he, as a pathetic human, was led by the will to protect his special someone. And damn it all, but it gave him strength!

As his senses analyzed the surroundings, Xelloss's heart (the nonexistent one) nearly stopped.

The area, a hall in a cave lit by hollow dim light coming out of nowhere, was vast and unimpressive. Zelgadiss was chained to a pole near one of its edges.

At any other time the priest would have laughed at overall dramatic feeling of the scene. But right now he was far from joking.

The two monsters, naturally, were present, engrossed in a low voiced conversation.

Now, if only the priest could creep in unnoticed and free Zelgadiss before the two could react.

However, the chimera stirred, looked at his captives and sighed.

"It's no use, you know," he said moodily.

The two mazoku looked at him, and Xelloss had to make an effort not to shout _What are you doing? Don't antagonize them!_

And yet the shaman gave a bitter sounding chuckle, "This is ridiculous. Are you honestly expecting Xelloss to show up? Xelloss Metallium?" the smile was ugly. "Don't you understand? He doesn't care! Of course he seemed to be somewhat friendlier recently, but do you two really expect him to give up a _magical stone_ just to save _me_?"

That was a suicidal move but it appeared the monsters were not about to finish the silly human off.

Xelloss noticed his hands were shaking. Those words cut painfully. His mind was distracted, trying to process a million of thoughts per minute. How wrong Zelgadiss was! He would gladly sacrifice anything he owned, just to make one human happy. Oh, Zellass-sama would be so angry with him if she found out. It was bewildering she hadn't found out by now... or maybe she had, and was opting to not interfere for her own reasons. Damn it all, the priest screamed at himself, he was so unfocused. He could make a terrible mistake if it continued, and no mistakes were allowed here.

Xelloss forced his undiverted attention to the present.

The servants of Hellmaster Fibrizzo were standing by the bound chimera.

"Don't you know anything?" one of them asked. "You have no idea, do you?"

It looked like his secret was about to be revealed. But he could deal with it, he had to stay calm and strike at the precise well-timed moment.

The other monster laughed, "I would like to see the look on that vermin Beastmaster slave. Haha! But..." his gaze became dark, "you have no right to speak, pathetic mortal."

The mazoku made a step forward to the chimera, rising a hand, but pure black magical energy was hurled at him and his companion.

Xelloss's time ran out, so he disregarded all stealth and planning. If luck was not on his side, he would just have to use all the burning hatred from within.

All the occupants of the hall were astounded – the captors as well as the captive. But it was not enough, confound it all, the first blow couldn't manage to become the finishing one, despite the fact that Xelloss had put every ounce of energy he possessed in it.

They retaliated, went to the sides and attempted to strike him from both angles at once. But their attacks were weaker than his.

However the two were remarkably in sync, and just when Xelloss was about to finish one off, the other appeared behind him, attacking, helping his companion.

They moved in a blur, assaulting and dodging, swirling spells back and forth. The two constantly trying to catch the priest in pincer movement.

Ridiculous. Xelloss had no right to be defeated now!

He started to gather everything he had, accessing all the unused resources, into one blow. _Come on,_ he urged the Stone, _I am already mad, so just give me all you can._

He just had to capture them both at once. It proved to be nearly impossible.

But just as Xelloss was about to despair, the remains of his attention caught a hoarse cry from the bound chimera.

"I refuse..." Zelgadiss said through gritted teeth, "I refuse to be a helpless burden in need of rescuing!"

Closing his eyes the shaman concentrated, jerked, the flow of magical energy surrounded him in a white light, and the chains broke, letting Zelgadiss free. The chimera, not pausing to breath, within the momentum struck the nearest enemy monster with a poorly formed, but backed with enough force, spell.

The mazoku screamed.

Xelloss, not giving away the opportunity, used all his gathered magic to deal that one final blow. The staff burned his arm, he could feel the power of the Stone, angry and wild, but he would wield it even if it destroyed him!

The last monster turned to him, eyes wide in horror, as the priest smiled, "Sorry," he said low and inaudible, "but I won't let you tell _my_ secrets!" and in a final burst of magic the enemy was swiped into nothingness.

A moment later silence fell.

Xelloss blinked and with a prayer _Oh, L-sama, let him be fine!_ looked for the chimera.

Zelgadiss was kneeling not far away, breathing deeply and irregularly.

The priest rushed to his side, "Zelgadiss-san, are you all right?"

The chimera was coughing, it didn't prevent him from trying to speak however.

"You came," he rasped between coughs. "You actually came to my rescue. Why?"

"How could I not?" asked the mazoku in reply.

Really, Xelloss berated himself in the back of his mind, he surely thought he had better control over his senses. But it appeared it could only stretch this much until it gave away. Oh well, what was said was said. And judging by the look Zelgadiss was giving him, he said quite a lot.

"Never mind about that now," the mazoku hastily said. "But let us get you out of here."

Xelloss took the protesting chimera by the arm and dragged him to the exit of the cave. He would have to deal with the consequences later, somehow.

Ah, the broad daylight. Never in all his long lifespan had the priest believed it would feel so good to face the sunlight. Not when there was his special person beside him. Though that special person looked like someone who wanted to get answers to all of his questions. Damn that undeniable streak of undying need for answers! Why couldn't he be somewhat more forgetting? ... Yet here he was, alive and unharmed, and not being too repulsed by the priest's presence. What a relief.

Xelloss sighed in content. Whatever happened – happened, to hell with the consequences, the most important fact was that Zelgadiss was alive.

They stopped in the clearing in the woods. Xelloss suppressed the urge to check the chimera for any wounds, but couldn't for the life of him stop the stream of questions.

"Are you all right? Have they hurt you? Is there..."

"Oh stop it, Xelloss!" the shaman snapped. "I'm really grateful for your help, but I'm not some fragile damsel in distress!"

Well, the priest privately smiled, it looked like his Zel-chan was unharmed.

The chimera sighed, "Speaking of which, why did you came to help me?" And receiving no response he added, "Not that I'm not grateful, I would probably be dead by now if you didn't... But... I don't understand... Why?"

"Why ever not?" the monster tried to shrug it off.

"Oh, don't you try that on me, Xelloss! You and I both know that you don't do anything unless there is a solid reason behind it."

"Maa, Zelgadiss-san," the priest tried again, "but are you sure in that statement of yours?"

"Damn it, Xelloss! Just stop it!" the chimera yelled. "You've been acting strangely lately. You've helped me. A lot... And now... now you _saved_ me! What the hell? I don't understand..." his rant broke.

Zelgadiss's breath hitched and Xelloss felt his nonexistent heart skip a beat.

"Just tell me... please," the chimera spoke in whisper. "I need to know what horrible dead I have done, or might do, to make you... you all of the creatures help me... save my life..."

That sounded too broken, too wounded, the shaman wasn't even looking him in the eye.

Suddenly Xelloss couldn't cling to his most treasured secret any longer.

"Zelgadiss," he started. The chimera locked gazes with him.

Oh dear, he really was in trouble.

"I love you."

Xelloss's mind went blank.

Zelgadiss's eyes went wide. His mouth opened. No sound came out.

So, he said it. Idly the priest wondered why there was no distinctive reaction – no thunder, no lightning, no earthquakes – to follow his declaration. It was his most treasured secret. And yet it came spilling so easily.

His special person looked rather speechless, Xelloss held back laughter. The hysterical giggle kind of laughter.

All right, he could deal with anything.

"W...what?" Zelgadiss stuttered.

"I love you," oh, repeating it was much easier and felt better for some reason.

"B... but... What?"

Zelgadiss slid down to sit on the ground and stared ahead at nothing.

"No!" suddenly the shaman's voice sounded clear and piercing as he glared at the priest. "No, you can't. You just can't!"

Xelloss suppressed yet another hysterical giggle. Just great. For once he was being completely honest, and this once it appeared he was not believed. L-sama probably hated him.

"You are a monster! You can't love!" that was much angrier, though the mazoku found himself to be unexpectedly patient.

"But surely you remember all the talking we had, all the explanations; and the Guaranda town with its story?" he asked. "It _is_ possible for a monster to fall in love. And I love you."

"But... but..." Zelgadiss was blinking rapidly. "You are not lying?"

The priest shook his head, "I don't lie."

"But then... how could you..."

And suddenly Xelloss could take this exquisite form of torture no more. He spilled his heart out, his soul! Why couldn't the man believe him? Just this once?

"Would you cut it out, Zelgadiss-san?" he glared at the chimera. "Honestly, you've came across far more strange things than a simple monster in love – take your grandfather, Rezo, with the Dark Lord sealed in his eyes, what could be more unbelievable? Why can't you imagine that my feelings for you are genuine? I had enough trouble coming in terms with them myself! If I could except them so can you."

The shaman blinked and looked down.

"I am sorry, Xelloss. That was uncalled for... It's just... so unbelievable. You... in love with me of all beings. Oh, I'm so sorry!" he bowed his head.

Damn it all, the priest felt his anger crumbling away like dust in the wind. He couldn't even stay angry at this man for crying out loud.

"Don't apologize, Zelgadiss-san," the monster sighed. "It's not so bad for a mazoku to be in love."

"But... with me? I'm not someone g..."

"Oh, don't give me that, Zelgadiss-san!" the priest interrupted what he was sure was a stream of self-imposed discrimination. "It's not as though I fell blindly into a trap. I knew what kind of person you are long before these feelings emerged. I fell in love with you _because_ you are you. It was not a spell cast on me or anything else so impersonal... And while I admit that actually falling in love was never in any of my plans, I can't deny that once it did happen I'm glad it was you."

Xelloss ran out of breath and out of things to say simultaneously. And would you look at that – Zelgadiss was spouting a blush.

"Please," he added in a gentler tone, "even if you don't believe in your own opinion about yourself, just trust me this once. I don't _regret_ falling in love with you." And, hell, he was being honest!

The chimera nodded mutely and looked down in thought.

Xelloss couldn't take the silence any longer, "Say something, Zelgadiss-san."

"Well," the shaman started pensively, "It _is_ strange to see you like this – agitated and emotional. Strange, but not bad... So I don't mind... To be honest, I'm flattered. But I don't mind... I just have to think it over. I mean, for all these years I associated you with someone who was... evil and prone to destroying things I held of value."

Despite himself Xelloss chuckled, "That part didn't change."

"I know," the chimera smiled and the priest felt his (still nonexistent) heart start beating faster. "But now, now I see a different side of you... caring and vulnerable. I have to think, I need time."

"You have plenty of it, Zelgadiss-san. But now let's go."

"Oh!" the shaman sprang to his feet. "I forgot! What happened with the others? Lina and Gourry, and Amelia? Are they all right?"

"They are perfectly fine. They are in fact not far away from here, in a hotel, probably having an early dinner by now... or late breakfast..."

The mazoku glanced at his companion and couldn't contain easy laughter and teasing, "Don't look like that, Zelgadiss-san. They haven't forgotten you and were honestly very worried... But they were certain I'd fly here, slay all the villains and rescue you!"

The chimera's eyes widened, "What? They believed you'd..."

"Maa, you give them little credit. In fact the last one to find about that secret of mine is you yourself." His companion looked very bewildered, so the priest added, "Lina knew for months."

"That would explain her odd behavior," came a contemplative response.

The monster couldn't help but say slyly, "Gourry figured it put all by himself."

"What?" the shaman's eyes went wide as he stared at the priest. "Gourry? That is impossible!"

"Are you shocked by this more than you were shocked by my revelation?" the mazoku cried and clutched the area where his heart would have been if it existed, never mind its cheerful hammering. "Zelgadiss-san, I'm wounded!"

"You fruitcake!"

Xelloss chuckled, felling happy. His most important person was beside him safe and sound, grumbling and bantering. To hell with the rest of the world, to hell that he was on the verge of giving up the Stone of Madness, (he really needed to make it up to his master), but this... this was great, there was no denying it.

_- TBC -_

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* * *

I feel like I've bitten off from a Fyodor Dostoevsky tree – once I started writing I couldn't stop. I'm not graphomaniac, damn it! Sighs, I still cannot stop, ha-ha.

Anyway, about this chapter. I never liked the stories where one unbelievable declaration of love is immediately followed by "I love you too." So this one will take time.

The next chapter will be from a *surprise* POV. I wonder if you can guess who. I'll give you some hints:

1. It's an unexpected character, rarely featuring in the series.

2. It's not someone to joke around.

Damn, I need to finish this story very quickly, for I feel myself changing and the story gets out of hands.


End file.
